After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

As soon as he stepped out of the coffee shop, Li Qiang stroked his beard, put on sunglasses, and regained his fierce demeanor from when he entered the shop before striding away.

The first day of the new store's opening passed by in a flurry of activity.

Xiao Qi helped out all day long, and only left with the store when it closed.

Aside from a minor incident involving his cousin Qi Pei, whom he brought along, he later had a little misunderstanding with Li Qiang.

Xiao Qi's expertise in coffee and his kindness and loyalty in dealing with people are evident to all.

Lan Yujuan admired him very much, and she also asked the group leader about him privately. She was surprised to find that outsiders also had a very good opinion of Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi's full name is Qi Lei, and he is from Simao.

His father died when he was very young. His mother remarried, and he grew up with his widowed grandmother, living with his uncle.

I heard that he had excellent grades in high school.

But because his family was poor, he voluntarily dropped out of school to work and earn money to support his cousin's continued education.

Because in Qi Lei's hometown, every household grows coffee, his first job was as a waiter in a coffee shop.

Later, through his hard work and talent, he passed the barista exam.

After learning about the coffee industry and various competitions and events, he began to actively participate in competitions and learn, gradually making a name for himself.

Although Qi Lei only recently won first place for the first time.

But long before that, he had participated in various coffee competitions for several years, winning countless second and third place awards.

The more Lan Yujuan learned about him, the more she wanted to keep him in her coffee shop.

So, on the third day after Qi Lei stopped contacting her, Lan Yujuan finally couldn't sit still any longer.

She took the initiative to send a message to Qi Lei, but he did not reply for a long time.

She tried calling Qi Lei several times, but couldn't get through.

In the end, she could only find out Qi Lei's temporary address through connections in the group.

Lan Yujuan deliberately chose nine o'clock in the morning, before Qi Lei might leave, and went to the address.

Qi Lei's rented place is right behind the university where Qi Pei is currently studying.

It was an old and dilapidated neighborhood, with its main gate hidden inside a crowded vegetable market.

As June approaches, the air in the vegetable market is filled with all sorts of smells, both fragrant and foul.

Qi Lei rented a place in the corner of the community.

The top floor, the eighth floor, is still a shared apartment with other people.

When Lan Yujuan passed by the vegetable market, she also bought two bags of fruit.

Carrying the fruit, she climbed all the way to the fifth floor, and by then she felt her brain starting to feel a little oxygen-deprived.

She put down her things, held onto the handrail and gasped for breath. After resting for a while, she continued to slowly climb up, panting as she went.

As she climbed to the seventh floor, she started to experience a ringing in her ears.

I vaguely sensed something, as if I were hallucinating, and heard soft sobbing.

Fortunately, there were openwork windows in the stairwell, allowing sunlight to shine into the stairwell, which inexplicably gave her courage.

Otherwise, this quiet and eerie place would stand in stark contrast to the bustling and noisy market outside.

She was a little worried if she came on a cloudy day, wondering if it would be haunted.

Finally, after climbing half a floor, I reached the eighth floor, the top floor.

She then realized that she hadn't misheard.

There was indeed a little girl sitting on the stairs on the top floor, hugging her knees and sobbing. She was crying very sadly.

"Little girl, what's wrong?"

Lan Yujuan put down the fruit, clutching her waist and panting, and asked with concern.

"Who bullied you? Why are you sitting here crying?"

Although the girl in front of me tried her best to dress more maturely, she even deliberately wore smoky makeup.

But her youthful face, her skin that looked like it could be pinched to release water, and her figure that was clearly not fully developed all conveyed one message:

This girl is definitely under eighteen. She's most likely a high school student.

The little girl looked up and glared at her, wiped her tears with the back of her hand, and then stubbornly turned her head to look at the wall.

"What's it to you!"

She even "politely" moved aside, clearing half of the aisle.

Lan Yujuan, realizing she had made a fool of herself, stopped asking about it.

Judging from his clothes and appearance, he doesn't seem to be from a poor family.

Maybe she's some rich girl who's starting her rebellious phase.

Lan Yujuan picked up the fruit again and went to the address.

"Knock, knock!" She knocked on the door.

As soon as the girl saw that she was knocking on the door of room 802, she immediately stood up with her bag, pressed herself against the wall, and stared at her warily.

Who are you looking for?

"What's your relationship with the people inside?"